


Insomnolence

by Iamthesmileyface



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Insomnia, Sleepy Cuddles, could be gen could be ship, there i've summarized the entire fic for you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 18:39:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17268980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamthesmileyface/pseuds/Iamthesmileyface
Summary: Insomnia sucks, and it's not just confined to roadtrips meant to find your missing best friend.Rated T for language





	Insomnolence

Arthur wasn’t sure what he hated most; the heaviness like sandbags weighing down his remaining limbs, the headache-inducing way his eyes kept crossing, the faint nausea, the momentary blackouts that kept being shocked away by bursts of useless adrenaline, or the knowledge that his shitty brain was doing this to him for no goddamn reason whatsoever. The TV was fading into background noise, wordless commotion punctuated by too-bright flashes of color that bathed the living room and his exhaustion-blank face in visual static. Blackness obscured his vision for a moment, and he jerked in his seat, his breath catching behind clenched teeth as his eyes popped open. He took a deep breath and refocused his eyes on the TV, now playing an infomercial where a woman had just taken a hammer to her wall in an attempt to sell caulk to any poor sap watching. 

 

Vivi was long asleep, and wouldn’t take kindly to his tossing and turning even if they had been in a place, friendship wise, for him to crawl into her bed at ass-o’clock AM when they were actually in a building for once and not just conking out in the back of the van. Recovering her memories was taking a lot out of her, even the slow trickle had her flashing through her emotions faster than she could keep up with. She played it off easily, but she’d been going to bed early and waking up late for the past two weeks. 

 

Lewis...Arthur still wasn’t sure where he stood with Lewis. They’d talked it out, after the whole Truck Event, and Lewis knew that Arthur had been possessed, but it had only been two weeks and three, no, four now, days since Lewis had tried to kill him and Arthur really remembered the tingling buzz in his left arm and -- nope. Not going there. He was having enough problems tonight as it was, thank you very much. His brain shrieked out another pointless warning, and Arthur was too tired to do more than flinch. Insomnia truly was a bitch, and anxiety was worse.

 

A soft crackling behind him sent shivers down his spine, but he couldn’t bring his aching bones to move as a soft pink light permeated the dark room. Lewis didn’t have to walk anymore, and his completely silent approaches had scared the shit out of all of them at least once, so he had taken to making his hair pop and crackle like a campfire just so he’d make noise. 

 

“Arthur, it’s nearly four thirty, what are you still doing up?” Lewis spoke softly, his voice reverberating around the room. He rounded the edge of the couch, staring at Arthur with a slant to his eye sockets that suggested concern, his hair sending off tiny magenta sparks.

 

“Insomnia,” Arthur’s voice was rough and crackly, but he met Lewis’s eyes with a wry grin that pulled at his cheeks painfully. “Nothing new.”

 

Lewis hummed, settling down on the couch next to him, reaching for the remote with telegraphed motions. The TV shut off, leaving Arthur staring at bursts of color that swirled and morphed behind his own eyes before the now much dimmer and much pinker living room formed around him. A wave of warmth washed over Arthur, and he shifted closer to the ghost without really thinking about it. “Do you...Do you want to cuddle?” Lewis raised an arm invitingly, looking at Arthur out of the corner of his eye sockets almost nervously.

 

“God, yes.” The vehemence of his own answer startled him, but he was too exhausted to second-guess himself as he pressed up against Lewis’s side, leaning his head against the other’s chest a scant few inches from the floating golden heart. The warmth radiating off him was like a cup of hot cocoa on a frigid winter’s day, and Arthur felt himself smile softly. Lewis draped his arm over Arthur’s shoulders gingerly, still watching him closely. Arthur didn’t know if he was being studied for any panic or for any trace of green, but given that he was practically melting into the heat, Arthur couldn’t bring himself to care. 

 

The exposed ribs on the outside of Lewis’s suit should have been digging into Arthur uncomfortably, but it didn’t feel like they were even really there. Arthur grazed a finger over one, tapping it gently. Definitely there, and definitely  _ felt  _ like bone. He also felt Lewis stiffen under his cheek, and the pink light flickered dramatically. He glanced up at the skull, the heat encompassing his whole being and the pressure of Lewis’s arm around his shoulders deadening the bite of his anxiety.

 

Lewis ‘blinked’ a few times. “That feels really weird.”

 

“Sorry.” The words came out laden with bone-deep exhaustion and just the faintest echo of guilt.

 

“You’re forgiven.” Lewis’s tone put more significance on it than the situation deserved. Arthur couldn’t keep his eyes open long or often enough to see Lewis’s face anymore, but something in the murmur and gentle, rhythmic thumping of the anchor near his face told Arthur that he would be smiling.  


**Author's Note:**

> The first draft of this was written after 32 consecutive hours of being awake, so I guess the takeaway is that I write fluff when I'm drop-dead exhausted? lmao


End file.
